Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) was the leading Platonic philosopher of the Renaissance and is generally recognized as the greatest authority on ancient Platonism before modern times. Among his greatest accomplishments as a scholar was his 1492 Latin translation of the complete works of Plotinus (204–270 CE), the founder of Neoplatonism. The 1492 edition also contained an immense commentary that remained for centuries the principle introduction to Plotinus’s works for Western scholars. At the same time, it constitutes a major statement of Ficino’s own late metaphysics. The I Tatti edition, planned in six volumes, contains the first modern edition of the Latin text and the first translation into any modern language. The present volume also contains an extensive analytical study of Ficino’s interpretation of Plotinus’s Third Ennead.

普罗提诺（公元204—270）是晚期希腊哲学中的无可争议的大师级人物，堪称整个古代希腊哲学伟人传统最后一位辉煌代表，是亚里士多德与奥古斯—厂之间700年中最伟大的哲学家。普罗提诺继承了希腊哲学的创造性的、积极的、肯定的那一方面传统，在许多方面深化与系统化，开创出这一传统最后一个富于哲学思辨深度与广度的博大体系，为希腊思想史划上了圆满的、令人无憾的终止符。他的思想中闪动着西方文化史中新的因素乃至现代的冈素。《九章集》是普罗提诺五十四篇论文的汇总，是以“非体系”的方式写出的“体系”。每篇论文都围绕某个具体观点而演绎“体系”的全部内涵，其思想的“密度”、多层次叙事的“维度”、文字所无法掩饰的生命“力度”以及“自我”直观的“深度”叹为观止。普罗提诺淋漓尽致地诠释了理性所能够达致的颤栗，使“神秘”不因为表述的“神秘”而真正地“神秘”，并以哲学的方式呈现了宗教所要溯及的情怀。